The Dangerous And The Unknown
by BingoZero
Summary: In the midst of oblivion and death Kankurou and Temari hold a small conversation.


Cool desert wind blows in a lazy fashion, as it does at night. Moonless and dark, the small sounds of lizards and beetles die immediately as they are made. It is this dark kind of soundless night that the desert is known for. It is a kind of oblivion to those who are not prepared. The desert is a place where if you loose focus you will not be able to find the person in front of you.

Here in this desert a caravan is now resting. The caravan is invisible in this desert, just as anything else disappears in the desert. But despite the void surrounding these people there is a buzz around them. An excitement and anxiety of knowing that one is doing dangerous work. It is especially prevalent as centurion guards are posted on all sides of the camp. Because it is from the void that the greatest dangers come from, and worst: the unknown.

If it had been a week in that desert they would have told you they spent a lifetime, they have spent five lifetimes. And with that a restlessness of the people was felt; the guards would tend to pool in small groups and chat to pass the time. Here at one post four guards were standing and joking about. Moonless nights are havoc on one's nerves if you have to stand guard, so standing in groups and some jokes helps sooth one's nerves.

Of the four guards there was one with a black bandanna that was leading the conversation.

"Hee hee, God on his knees, I can't wait for tomorrow. As I understand, there's another shipment of 'essentials' being brought in for the village of Suna. I've been dying for some decent whiskey." The man in the black bandanna says with a rough voice.

"Come off it now," said another man in a yellow vest, "We've been out here knocking off trade shipments forever now. I think we should cash in our chips and try another trade rout."

"The boss hasn't given the order to move yet, we do what the boss says, until he says to move you don't think," says a man in a drab gray outfit with a fanatic look on his face.

"Will you shut up, the boss may have some in with the ninjas so that he knows when they sweep the area, but he's still just knocking off small caravans! Christ, this is a pathetic band." Shot out the man in a green scarf, the days in the desert have already gotten to him.

"Yeah, well, excuse me while I bugger off behind that dune to get the boss' permission to take a piss." The man in the black bandanna retort.

The other three were left to uncomfortably stand beside each other. But it was only moments before the man in the black bandanna returned with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Christ on crutches, it's dark out there. If it wasn't for you ladies in your sewing circle chatting it up, I wouldn't have found my way back Hee hee" The man in the black bandanna joked.

But in an instant the fanatic man in gray pulled a dagger out and held it to the other's throat.

"You left your post and came back without saying the password. What's the password?!" The man in gray said with a crazed look in his eye, it was obvious the desert condition had gotten to him worst.

All the men were livid. Each one trying to defuse the situation. But what happened next happened terribly fast and without warning. The man in the black bandanna's arm moved independently from his body and swiftly maneuvered like a snake around the other man's arm, holding it tight. And before anyone could cry out the man in the black bandanna's arm painfully straightened, breaking the man in gray's arm in nine places while simultaneously a blade shot out of the palm of his hand impaling the man in gray's head. The spectacle was too fantastic for the other men, as for a moment they were frozen in disbelief and fear.

The first to react was the man in the green scarf. And that may have been his mistake. He shifted backwards with the smallest of steps, but that was enough to get the man in the black bandanna's attention. His head snapped to look at the other man with an unnatural move, his eyes almost glowed with a wholly different expression that a devil might make to mock a human. His jaw unhinged with a grotesque click and the man in the black bandanna lunged on the man with the green scarf, biting down where the neck meets the shoulder.

The man in the green scarf tried to yell. He tried to scream. But nothing came out and for the very few moments as he struggled the very last ounces of life poured out from his face as he silently screamed and convulsed. Now his head fell limp, his body: limp. The man in the black bandanna stood with two dead men hanging off his hand and mouth like a huge stalking predator. The man in yellow looked at his long time friend and tried to reason how this was actually happening. Trying to understand how his friend of many years, who joined this band of thieves with him, could now act like some unreal monster. He couldn't comprehend the phantasm infront of him, he only screamed.

This scream rang through the camp. Even in the void of the desert, this scream was heard by all. But this sound died as soon as it was heard just as soon as any other sound in the desert. People began to run around trying to find where this scream came from. Soon the man in yellow came running in the camp screaming more, bleeding from his head and arm. Insane with fear the man ran, no one could comfort him or try to listen to what he has to say.

"Monster! Oh God! He ate them! No, he'll kill us all!" The man in yellow shouted at the top of his lungs, he was drunk on fear and could feel nothing else. Finally the leader of the den of thieves came and intercepted the madman running round their camp. He grabbed a hold of him and shook him and tried to instill a new sense of fear in him. Knowing that a man driven mad with fear will only respond with a new fear. After promising the slowest session of peeling off his skin and feeding it to him unless told him what had happened the man in yellow began to speak.

"There was some monster! It looked like Kashira-san, but then it killed and ate Koujou-san and Megane-san!! And now it's in the camp..." As the man in yellow spoke these last three words the leader of the bandits felt a stiff feeling come over his body. He had a difficulty moving and when he looked down at the other man he was holding and he found blades sticking out from him and penetrating himself. The leader tore away, ripping the wounds open wider but he didn't feel it. He tried to preform jutsu to pull himself back together but couldn't feel anything. An absent minded feeling washed over him, he didn't know if he was alive or dead. He couldn't move, he felt a searing pain ring from everywhere but it didn't bother him. He just lied there, with his face in the dirt as he watched that little man in yellow seem to explode from his own skin and became this devil incarnate.

The devil no longer hid. It's hideous form was barely perceived as most were slaughtered with a singular motion. The others found themselves in total panic, without a leader. As the trouble seemed insurmountable sandstorms began to descend without warning. Giant tornadoes of wind ripped through the encampment. People were dying everywhere. Ripped to shreds by the elements, mutilated by an unknown devil. Every sign of life was crying out for help, to know where the danger loomed, to find some scrap to hide beneath.

Within moments, there were screams all at once, there were winds so loud and deafening that it's howls fueled the madness. There were sounds of people dying. All these sounds were happening, then all the sound died out. Everything is quiet in a desert. In one moment there is deadly pandemonium and the next stillness. Only the lizards and beetles crawling on the sand.

Just as one moment last forever, the stillness was infinite. But then two forms landed in the middle of what was once the bandit caravan. A young and attractive woman was eying her surroundings.

"So these were the obnoxious fools that were annoying our shipment schedules. Do you think we got him?" She said while holding a large retracted bundle.

The other form, a young man in black, stalking the grounds like a cat.

"Yeah. Here he is. Irikuchi. Betray our village just to shack up with these bandits. Idiot." Said the young man. The devil who was slaughtering countless people minutes ago is now returning to its master. Like a dedicated puppet, it dances when the master pulls the strings.

"Well, Kankurou, it looks like it's mission accomplished." The young lady said. "Maybe we should take a rest before heading back to Suna?"

"Yeah. Might as well..." Kankurou said listlessly as he leaned on what was left of a wagon. Casually looking over his horrible puppet to see if there was anything that needed a minor repair. Karasu was carved into its chin. This devil that took the form of two men, and killed a dozen more or so tonight was now lying limp like the dead themselves. Its secrets buried behind it's almost human form and cloak is now in the lap of the young man, who is glancing over to make sure all the traps are now closed. "It's a nice enough night tonight."

"You know..." The young woman said as she propped herself up on a rock, the metal package in her hands, she stretched her neck so she could feel the gentle wind in her blond hair. "...maybe we should go on a vacation."

Kankurou stopped what he was doing, "A vacation? Temari, we're the brother and sister of the Kazekage. This was our vacation. Going off and killing a lot of dumb ass bandits. With your work with diplomacy and mine with the council, giving us an easy mission where we can just wreck havoc is a vacation. We're two of the most elite ninja of the village, we can't just go on a vacation."

"It's not all that impossible!" Temari snapped, "I could set up a blow off diplomacy mission where the two of us can goto Konoha just for leisure."

"Taking a vacation away from the life of a ninja you want to goto a rival ninja village: genius. I think you've missed your calling as a travel agent." Kankurou quipped.

"At least we'll be around people who know the stress we have to deal with." Temari persisted, "and they have some very nice hot springs, and, don't forget, there will be people we know there."

"Yeah, people we've tried to kill. People who've tried to kill us." Kankurou said while looking back at Karasu.

"Ha! You know, Kankurou, that the list of people who don't want to kill you is an awfully short one!" The snarky woman said.

Kankurou pretended to be fully enrapped in examining his puppet, pulling back small panels to see how the components sat. The painted lines on his face stretched to exaggerate the look of seriousness he was trying to convey towards the puppet. Then, in an instant, their attentions were drawn to the corpse of Irikuchi whom they had all but forgotten about.

Irikuchi was beginning to stir. The jutsu he sloppily tried to perform before he was dealt a death blow was now taking effect, more or less. He was trying to raise himself up but found that he couldn't move all of his limbs, for reasons he didn't look down to confirm. His poor position didn't stop him from talking though.

"You lap dogs! You toy with us and kill us and sit there like you're the gods of life and death!!You're pathetic! You have to kill to make you're livings?! It's a disgrace! I left the ninja life to become a bandit, and what do you do?! You kill everything!"

This was all Kankurou could take, raises Karasu for the kill, then drops it. Raises his hands, and Irikuchi snaps to his feet and is dragged in that instant into Kankurou's hands. Kankurou grabbed him by the neck with one hand and pummels him in his face with the other.

"You stupid, dumb, piece of scum! You should have just lied there and died quietly! The poison would have killed you in a hour, but NO, you needed a more direct death! You piece of garbage! Steal from your own village and say you're too good for it! This is why you're dying now, because you're scum!" Kankurou screams at this man. His face turns blood read, with the purple lines curving around his enraged face, he looked like a demon out of hell.

Kankurou realizes that the bloody pulp he is punching is no longer living and throws it to the ground. He begins breathing and tries to regain composure, he looks at Temari. She is dumb founded by her brother's display. The color returns to normal on his face, his eyes narrows as he looks at Temari, he pulls his shoulders back. The warm blood still dripping from his clenched fist.

"You know, Temari, I think we could use a vacation."


End file.
